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Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe pp 131–144Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Between Mitigation and Dramatization: The Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Populists’ Discourses and Strategies

Abstract

This chapter addresses the general research questions of the book, namely the possibility that populists in Europe can profit from a peculiar crisis such as COVID-19, and it wonders whether populists reacted in a similar way across countries or whether the institutional role they play at the national level has affected their reactions. Findings show that while populists have tried to take advantage of the crisis situation, the impossibility of taking ownership of the COVID-19 issue has made the crisis hard to be exploited. In particular, populists in power have tried to depoliticize the pandemic, whereas radical right-populists in opposition tried to politicize the crisis without gaining relevant public support though.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. 1.

    The map provides a qualitative classification of different party positions based on the evidence that emerged from the national chapters.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultures, Politics and Society—Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giuliano Bobba

  2. Centre for Research on Mediations (CREM), University of Lorraine, Metz, France

    Nicolas Hubé

Authors
  1. Giuliano Bobba
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  2. Nicolas Hubé
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Correspondence to Giuliano Bobba .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultures, Politics and Society—Collegio Carlo Alberto, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Giuliano Bobba

  2. Centre for Research on Mediations (CREM), University of Lorraine, Metz, France

    Nicolas Hubé

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Bobba, G., Hubé, N. (2021). Between Mitigation and Dramatization: The Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Populists’ Discourses and Strategies. In: Bobba, G., Hubé, N. (eds) Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6_10

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